


The Profile

by darlingdisastrous



Series: Me and My Husband - Anthology [2]
Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Arranged Marriage, Assassins, Ballet, Ballet Dancer Reader, But it's there, Crushes, Dysfunctional Family, Emotionally Constipated Illumi, F/M, Five Years Later, Meet-Cute, Nen (Hunter X Hunter), Older Man/Younger Woman, POV Alternating, POV Third Person, Reader-Insert, Self-Indulgent, Self-Insert, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Stalking, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Theatre, York New City Ballet, Yorkshin City | Yorknew City (Hunter X Hunter), age gap, assassinations, hinted masturbation, it's not explicit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26674717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingdisastrous/pseuds/darlingdisastrous
Summary: Illumi has seen thousands of faces in his lifetime, alive and dead, so why does he remember yours...?
Relationships: Illumi Zoldyck/Reader
Series: Me and My Husband - Anthology [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1940818
Comments: 9
Kudos: 117





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place five years after _La Sylphide_. You are now nineteen years old, and Illumi is twenty-four.

Illumi knew he wasn't his father's first choice when it came to anything.

Especially not for assisting in an assassination job.

He'd been aware of this fact for several years, now; which had made prevalent after his siblings were born.

It didn’t bother Illumi. That’s just how it was.

And so, had Killua not been off playing pretend with that boy, and if grandfather and Kalluto hadn't been away on assignment, and if Milluki wasn’t the way that he was, Illumi was certain father wouldn’t’ve spared him a second glance.

It seems the fates had other ideas, though, and Silva begrudgingly roped his oldest child in, explaining the job while they were already in the aircraft.

It wasn't going to be a difficult job—just a tedious one. The client seemed to have a vendetta against a handful of York New City politicians, and their families.

Almost as soon as the airship touched down in York New, Illumi split from his father. They planned to divide and conquer, if you will. Illumi had no issue locating the targets. It was a brilliant Sunday afternoon, and most of the families had gathered together in their own homes to spend 'quality time' with one another. 

They were all dealt relatively fast. The only thing that prevented Illumi from finishing up sooner was the client's _special request_ ; make the kills messy and painful.

By the time he had disposed of the final family, Illumi was drenched in blood from head to toe. What a bother ...

He cleaned himself off to the best of his abilities. His clothes were ruined. There was no way he could possibly walk around the city looking like that. He scrounged up a new set, stolen from the closet of the deceased, that would have to do for the time being. As soon as he was home, he'd burn them. 

Illumi left the penthouse suit with ten hours to spare before he had to meet back with his father, so he chose to take the long way back to the hotel.

York New was always crowded. The sidewalks were choked with people pushing and shoving their way past one another; the streets clogged with cars. Illumi stood towards the center of a group waiting to use the crosswalk. The group didn't crowd him like they would a random pedestrian. They could sense that he was dangerous and gave him a wide berth of space.

The light changed and the group began to walk. Across the street, another cloud of pedestrians headed towards them, too. That was when he felt it.

It was small, standing on the edge of his consciousness. Normally, Illumi didn't let things like this bother him, but the feeling nagged at him. It was as if he was staring at a completed puzzle, only to notice that a small piece in the heart of it was missing.

A Nen user, Illumi determined. Now, York New was a big city. It was overflowing with Nen users, strong and weak alike. But no presence (or perhaps, lack of presence) had set him off like this before...

Illumi's gaze instinctively sought out the Nen user, and spotted her with ease. It was a girl, walking in the group opposite of him. Illumi didn't know what he'd expected, if he was honest; but, she wasn't it. 

She was by no means out-of-the-ordinary. There was nothing overtly special about her. She was just another face in the crowd, and from the looks of it, that's exactly what she wanted to be. Invisible.

Illumi's eyebrows pinched together. Something about her was ... _familiar_.

And then, she looked up.

Eye contact was brief. No one ever looked at him long, his aura was too off-putting. The girl met his gaze, almost unseeingly. Her eyes seemed to brighten in the sunlight. A strange feeling stirred within his chest.

Her hair was messily shoved back by an athletic headband. There was a slight flush to her face, sweat glint off her cheekbones. Around her body was a duffle bag, the words _York New City Ballet_ embroidered on it in bold silver letters. 

Just like that, she looked away and was swallowed up by the crowd of pedestrians. She hadn't been in his sights more than three seconds, and yet it felt like an eternity.

Illumi quickened his pace to the hotel.

ღ

The airship ride was quiet. The two assassins had already discussed proof of death and payment with the client; so, there wasn't anything else to talk about. (Except, of course, Killua.)

Illumi took this time of peace for himself and pulled out his laptop. He's not sure what compelled him to search up the York New City Ballet - really, it wasn't his original intention. And yet, he went to the site without thinking. It didn't take long for him to find a page that listed all of the company's senior members. There was a photo next to each name, and a bio written by the dancers themselves.

It took him a few minutes to stumble onto her. She was the last name listed, as the company went by age rather than alphabetically. His eyes scanned across her name, then to the picture of her. She looked different than she had today, on the street. She was more put-together in this photo, unlike how she'd been on the street.

Illumi still couldn't remember how he knew her, but he knew that it was from years ago. Not knowing _how_ he knew the girl frustrated him more than remembering her in the first place. 

According to her bio, she was a York New native and had been dancing for fourteen years. Her first character role with the Ballet was the Diamond Fairy from _Sleeping Beauty_. That was it. The briefness of the biography only added to his frustration.

Before Illumi could stop himself, he opened up the Hunter's Tavern and typed in the girl's name. A dozen or so photos came up along with some articles involving her name.

The articles were all about as useless as her biography had been. They were interviews about random topics, sometimes the York New City Ballet, and sometimes about her family. Illumi read all of them, seeking out answers to questions he didn't have.

The girl's mother was a dental assistant. Her father was an ex-pro Hunter. Nothing too remarkable about him in the past. It seemed that, a few years after the birth of his daughter, he relinquished the Hunter title and instead began to pursue music. He'd gained some popularity there, appearing in several music halls and even doing a small tour.

The pictures were what interested him the most. He clicked onto the first one. It was a photograph from one of her performances. She stood out among the dancers around her. It had nothing to do with her physique, per se, but her dynamic expression.

That was the majority of the pictures the hunter website had to offer: either performances or with her family. One or two had been just her, smiling at the camera happily. Illumi stopped at one of those, taking in everything that he could. That strange feeling from before stirred within his chest again. He must be coming down with something ... 

Suddenly, he was aware of his father approaching. Illumi had a sudden, inexplicable urge to hide what he was doing, but he didn't. What did he have to hide?

His father's gaze darted towards him, sensing the brief wave of anxiety that had come over him, and changed course to come and sit by him. Illumi made no effort to scroll away. His father studied the screen, his eyes catching on a picture Illumi had been staring at not too long ago.

"Who is she?"

"No one important," said Illumi. "A dancer."

Silva raised an eyebrow, "A _dancer_?"

He shook his head, "Not like that. She's in the York New City Ballet."

"Ah."

_Illumi raked his eyes across her bright, shining face. What made someone that happy?_

"Why the sudden interest in ballet?" asked his father. He reached over and switched to a new photo, one of her mid-performance.

Illumi didn't like how his father appraised her. "Only curious. I think I met her once." Silva changed the photo once more. "She knows Nen."

His father hummed, and finally removed himself from the computer. "Is that all?"

Was it all? For some reason - even though what he said was the truth - Illumi couldn't help but feel like there was more to it as well. Finally, he exited out of the web page.

"Yes, that's all."


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's come to Illumi's attention that he should settle down ...

Months passed and Illumi managed to push that bizarre incident from his mind.

It was easy to do. He had more important things to think about; more important things to _deal_ with that didn't involve Nen wielding ballet dancers.

Once the airship landed, he wrote off the incident as an intense curiosity of the opposite sex. Illumi often neglected his more basic desires, as they were useless in an assassin's life. He dealt with his _issue_ accordingly later that evening and told himself he was satisfied; but, for some reason, the image of the girl lingered in his mind. So, he did the only other thing he knew to do: work.

Illumi took on as many jobs as he could, wanting to suffocate himself in his work until it killed the part of him that still thought of the girl. And, it worked. It barely took a week to forget all about her. Life went on.

In fact, he might've forgotten about her all together, had it not been for his father.

ღ

Returning home from a mission was the closest thing to relief that Illumi knew. It took longer than anticipated, which was a nuisance, but it was over now. No use in getting annoyed over it.

He'd barely made it half-way when Gotoh emerged from the trees. He stood before Illumi, hands clasped behind his back and head bowed in respect. "Welcome back, Master Illumi."

Illumi nodded, "Thanks."

He expected the butler to move, but Gotoh continued to stand in his way. He spoke again, "Your father requests your presence in his study as soon as possible."

Illumi hummed in response. There weren't many reasons why his father wanted to speak with him, unless it was involving Killua or another mission. It was likely the former. He hadn't updated father for some time now about Kill ...

When he entered his father's office, he was surprised to see his mother and grandfather all piled inside as well.

"Hey," said Illumi.

"Good. You came." His father motioned him forward to one of the seats in front of his desk. "I have something for you to look over."

Illumi complied, sitting down slowly. There was a rather thick stack of papers on his father's desk. That wasn't an unusual sight; however, what was unusual was that Silva pushed the stack towards Illumi, a silent invitation to take them.

Illumi picked it up, barely glancing at the first sheet before laying it on his lap. It was a stack of profiles. The Zoldycks typically made profiles like this for targets. They included basic information, such as last known locations and weaknesses, along with special requests made by the client.

This is a big stack of profiles, but it wasn't the biggest Illumi had seen. Still, this confused Illumi, so he asked, "What is it you need me to do?"

"Illumi," his father began, "Your mother and I -"

"No," interjected Kikyo, glowering at her husband, "Just you."

Silva began anew. " _I_ think it's time you found a wife."

Illumi paused, his eyes flitting down to the papers and back to his parents. "Oh. I see. So that's what this is."

"Potential prospects," said his grandfather.

There were quite a bit of them. Illumi frowned inwardly, but decided that they wouldn't leave him with such an important task. They'd all have their own opinions on the matter.

His father continued, "The decision of who is entirely up to you. You may choose whichever woman you like, so long as she is in that stack."

"I've carefully handpicked these ladies, Illumi," said his mother. "There are several in there that I have flagged as potentials."

"I flagged some, too," added Zeno with a sly grin.

Kikyo's lips twisted into a frown. "Obviously, none of them are perfect; but, they can be moulded. I won't have anything less than perfection." 

It had already been decided, then. Illumi nodded understandingly. "When should I start?"

"Preferably as soon as possible," said his father. "Go to your room and look them over. Take as much time as you need. I'll await your decision."

"Okay."

Illumi bowed to the three of them and left the room. He kept the stack tucked carefully under his arm, and when he finally came to his room, he did exactly as father instructed.

He made a space for it at his desk and began to thumb through the papers. The red flags, Illumi soon realized, were the women his mother preferred. There would be the occasional note scribbled down in her hand, all of them analytical, bordering on degrading.

The blue flags were grandfather's. The women he hand picked were attractive, but their accomplishments were lacking. 

Illumi had begun to notice a pattern. All of the women were high-ranked figures, either the daughters of prominent people or prominent people themselves. Assassins. Pro-Hunters. Political figures. Heiresses. Pro-Fighters. All the girls had some kind of wealth, status, and strength.

It wasn't until he was nearly finished - only three-or-four pages to go - that he came across a paper flagged with purple tape. Illumi frowned. Maybe it was a mistake ... And then, he saw the name. That girl. The dancer from York New. Illumi's chest felt tight and uncomfortable. All those images in his head that he'd tried so hard to burry suddenly clawed their way out of the recesses of his mind.

The picture printed on it was the one from her bio, on the York New City ballet site.

How odd that she, of all women, was in here. She was of little to no importance, just another face in the crowd. He knew he shouldn't've even bothered reading her profile - it would be a waste of time, and mother would never approve.

And yet, that didn't stop him.

Some of the details, Illumi was already aware of from the last time he looked into her. Her name. (It was a rather pleasant name.) Her job. (How could someone make a living as a dancer? Illumi couldn't wrap his head around it.) Where she lived. (It had been a while since he had a job in York New...) 

But, he was surprised to find that there was a lot more that he didn't know about her. She was nineteen. (Illumi couldn't even remember being nineteen. He'd given up on counting birthdays a long time ago.) Her birthday occurred about a week ago. (Hm. Just a week ago he was killing someone. What different lives they led,) It listed her blood type, her race, her height and weight. It also listed a few more arbitrary facts; like her favorite colors, allergies, and known phobias. (Spiders? What a silly thing to be afraid of.)

Under skills, there wasn't much listed. Only that she was athletic and possessed basic Nen skills. She wasn't as rich, nor as affluent as the women in the stack. Her only claim to fame was her father, a semi-famous pianist and ex-Pro Hunter. His mother - nor his grandfather - hadn't left a single note about her, and she was at the bottom of the stack meaning she was supposed to be a last resort.

But, all the same, she was flagged. Why?

It came to him, probably slower than it should have. The only person who knew of you, besides himself, was his father. Siva must've remembered the event on the airship, when Illumi was researching her. But, it still didn't make sense.

Illumi realized that he'd been staring at her profile for far too long, much longer than the others, and so he laid her paper aside. Though, instead of putting it back into the stack along with the others, he laid her off to the side. Illumi barely read the last few profiles. His thoughts were too jumbled to focus properly. How irritating.

_Why?_

_Why is this girl bothering me so much?_

Illumi rested his chin in the palm of his hand. There was no reason why he should be bothered over some girl. That didn't change the fact that she wouldn't get out of his head. He frowned. Obviously, if someone was disturbing his thoughts like this, they weren't as inconsequential as he originally believed.

Father said the decision was up to him - he understood that.

Illumi picked up the dancer's profile once again, scanning her face. Mother would never approve ...

... But, it was his choice. Father said so.

Illumi straightened himself out. He stood, the paper clutched tightly in his fist, and stalked out of the room. Before he knew it, he was in front of his father's study, knocking on the heavy wooden door.

"Come in."

Illumi entered swiftly. When he looked up, he noted that both mother and grandfather had gone, leaving him alone with his father. Silva didn't look up from his paper, writing furiously.

"That took you longer than I expected," father commented. "Have you made a decision?"

Illumi nodded. He approached the desk and laid the profile down for him to see. There was a tiny, nearly imperceivable smirk that donned Silva's face. He didn't have to look up to know which girl laid before him.

"Her."

"We'll begin to make the preparations."


End file.
